


Someplace Magical

by Es_Aitch



Series: Twelfth Doctor One Shots  Series 9 [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-28 09:11:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5086246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Es_Aitch/pseuds/Es_Aitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spoilers for “Girl Who Died” and “Woman Who Lived”.  My typical 'What happened after?' story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Someplace Magical

Clara came up behind the Doctor and wrapped her arms around his upper arms; she couldn’t reach higher from this position, while carefully avoiding his guitar. The Doctor didn’t cringe away this time. Instead, he raised his free hand to give her arm a gentle stroke and pat. Then he held it there a moment. Seeing the image of Ashildr had spooked him and holding Clara there a moment longer was a strange comfort.

He spoke softly, “I’ve missed you, Clara Oswald.”

Clara released him and his thoughts drifted to Missy’s last words after he told her to run. ‘The friend inside the enemy, the enemy inside the friend.’ It wasn’t all that different from what Ashildr had said, ‘Enemies are never a problem. It's your friends you have to watch out for. And, my friend, I'll be watching out for you.’

If he were completely honest, that felt like a threat. Clara’s words broke into his thoughts. “Well, don’t worry, Daft Old Man, I’m not going anywhere.” 

That should have brought him comfort. It just raised his anxiety. He gazed across the console at Clara and gave her a nod to release the handbrake. She had asked to be taken somewhere magical and that’s what he was going to give her. Because now, his mind was thinking that perhaps Ashildr had plans against Clara and he wasn’t sure how long he could protect her from whatever those plans were. But one thing he was fairly certain of: taking Clara to a different time and place would afford both of them a bit of safety.

“So where are we going?”

“Hmmm? Oh. To Centaurus X-7.”

He was somewhat distracted and didn’t offer any explanation. Clara slowly walked around the console. Something was certainly wrong. But the Doctor didn’t seem to be in a state of mind for her to push him. “And that is?”

And just like that, he snapped back to himself. He took his guitar off and set it in a safe location as he spoke. “It's kind of like a sky-bridge that connects two moons. Only, it's natural. It's something to do with the gravitational forces between the planet and two of it's moons. It's got an atmosphere, so you don't need space suits or anything. And it's more or less invisible. But once you're on the bridge you can't get off until you reach the other moon. Course, they’ve turned it into a bit of a tourist spot now. They’ve built a people mover inside of it, with weigh-points, so you can stop off to look around. Is that magical enough for you, Clara Oswald?”

She offered a playful little smirk. “It’s a start.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes and the materialisation sequence began. Once the parking break was set they made their way out onto the moon. Once they were in the queue for the bridge, Clara slipped her arm through his and leaned her head against his shoulder. He couldn’t help teasing her. “You’re not tired are you? You know I expect you to be well-rested before we head out on any trips.”

“You don’t seem as anti-touch these days, I thought I should get in as much as possible.”

He chuckled softly and used his free hand on her forearm once again. “Fair enough.”

She frowned a little, but since it was their turn, she changed the subject. “Let’s walk a bit, yeah? It’s not like there’s a time limit. I saw that they run constantly.”

“Clara, the walk takes approximately four and a half hours; at a brisk pace and without stopping.”

“And I want to enjoy the magic of it.”

He couldn’t argue with that. It was why they were here. “Oh, all right.”

Clara had alternative plans. Didn’t she always? “So, did you find your amulet or whatever you were looking for?”

They were walking at a leisurely pace. Clara was right, they had nowhere they had to be, and they could always get on the people mover when they were too tired to walk. “I did. Not before it was used, unfortunately.”

Clara gasped. “Didn’t you say someone would die? How did you save them?”

“I didn’t.”

“Oh, come on Doctor.”

“ _I_ didn’t save him.”

She gave him a look. “But then what happened…?”

The Doctor nodded solemnly. “Ashildr.”

“Ashildr? That was quick. When we left you made it sound…”

He tried to keep his voice from rising. He wasn’t angry at Clara, just annoyed with himself. “She’s immortal. How was I to know when I’d see her again?”

“Sorry.”

“No. Clara…” He sighed heavily as he looked around them and saw a place where there was a lookout. There were a couple of benches there – _that was new_ – though no one was using them, he gestured that Clara should sit with him. “Do you remember what I told you about immortality?”

She sat down next to him. “That it’s everybody else dying.”

He nodded once. He wasn’t looking at Clara, he looked out at the view that was before them. “She had already lived for 800 years. She had lovers and children. Some of her children died of the Black Plague. She swore to never have children after that. She talked about how much she had forgotten in all that time. She kept a diary, though. Would even go back and read it. She tore out pages when she decided she no longer wanted to remember certain events. I asked her why she kept the pages about her children’s death. She said it was to remind her to never have children again. She had grown cold and heartless…”

Clara’s eyes had grown large with emotion. A tear slid down her cheek. “Doctor, please, I don’t want to hear any more.”

He looked over at her. He reached out, cupped her cheek, and wiped a tear away with his thumb before releasing her. “There it is. Your eyes and your kindness. You probably could have convinced her sooner that she cared.”

Clara sniffed, trying to get her emotions under control. “You said that she saved someone.”

He nodded. “Not until after others died. It created a portal like I predicted, but they started to destroy everything. That was when she realised she cared. Nearly too late.”

“But she closed it. Most of them were saved. That’s what matters.”

“Is it?”

Clara frowned. “Isn’t it?”

“I think… I think Ashildr needed saving again. And I’m not sure I succeeded this time.”

He couldn’t explain to Clara that he saw in Ashildr his worst fears being realised. Clara remained quiet, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, she prompted, “Doctor?”

The Doctor didn't want to burden her more than he already had.  Besides, there was someone he had not seen in far too long who would be more appropriate.  With that he stood, again acting like nothing was wrong. “Come on. Come on, you didn’t come here to listen to the musings of a Daft Old Man.”

Clara offered a small smirk and stood. “But what if I want to know about planets and stars? Who else am I going to ask?”

“Well, each of these stop-offs have these handy-dandy guides.”

“Those things are rubbish. And you could probably tell stories of adventures you’ve had on the different planets.”

“Of course I can. So what do you say?”

She nodded as she stood and reached out her hand to take his arm, but he deftly took it with his hand. She smiled and gave the hand a squeeze. “See? I said I had to get it in while I could.”

Her tone was pleasant with just a hint of teasing. He returned the squeeze and then pointed to a planet in the distance and started telling Clara all about it.


End file.
